Aggressors may mock the bodies of the dead - put them on display, carry them around as trophies, refuse families the remains and a place of burial. This is an act aimed at the living: the body is turned into a message to the community, one of intimidation and humiliation. Desecration of bodies is prohibited as an outrage upon personal dignity (Rome Statute, Article 8(2)(b)(xxi); customary Rule 113 of the ICRC study), and the duty to return the remains to the families is fixed by Rule 114.
After capturing Alkhan-Yurt at the end of March 1919 the Volunteer Army for a month did not let the residents bury their dead - historians Ya. Z. Akhmadov and E. Kh. Khasmagomadov write: "As a punishment for the stubborn resistance, the White command for the course of a month did not permit the bodies of the village's fallen defenders to be committed to the earth"[1].